What would your founding fathers say about your chapter?
Chapter meets founders and learns brotherhood lasts a lifetime
Ryan Rabac, Florida State ‘14
Last spring, I received an email from the daughter of a SigEp alumnus in Tacoma, Wash. asking if I could set up a house tour for her dad. But what stuck out most about her email was when she revealed who her father was. It was Charley Dils, Florida State ’52, one of the founding members of our chapter in 1950.
I immediately called and spoke to Brother Dils and arranged for him to tour our house with local alumnus Tom Bowen, Florida State ’53. On a warm Wednesday afternoon, they entered our red doors, and embraced.
Dils and Bowen went up to our first chapter composites on the wall and pointed to themselves. Bowen stood in the back row of the main composite in a black tuxedo. Dils is on a second picture of five brothers who did not make the first shoot. Here were two figures from a black and white photo on our wall standing before us in real life. Dils even served as chapter president.
About ten active brothers joined me that afternoon to greet the alumni members and speak with them. We didn’t know what to expect, but hoped to impress them with all of our efforts and progress on campus. It turned out to be much more of a pleasure listening to what they had to say.
Over the course of a few hours, the brothers described to our small audience what life was like in the 50s at Florida State. They lived in barracks-style dorms in an old medical facility on what used to be an Air Force base and earned the top GPA on campus as they were chartering. Some were happily married, too. We were the fifth SigEp chapter in Florida and the 117th in the nation.
Among the original brothers were veterans of World War II. When we re-colonized last year, several members, including our first president, were veterans. Now rather than being a random anomaly in the fraternal community, we know that our veteran members and philanthropic efforts to support veterans actually uphold a meaningful tradition.
Dils, Bowen, and the rest of the brothers chartered after only six months on campus. When we reach this milestone together, we’ll join national representatives and alumni in a banquet held the same exact way as it was 62 years ago. I know this because I have a copy of brother Dils’ article and a program from the banquet itself.
Sometimes as I spend my days with the executive board solving issues and planning for the future, I wonder about the responsibilities of our relationship with alumni. It isn’t easy sometimes identifying with alumni from past generations when the current iteration of our chapter is still so new. We are linked by a tradition over one hundred years old, yet I feel mainly connected to the brothers I founded Florida Epsilon SEC with last year, before I even knew what a fraternity was.
What I do know is many of these past brothers care very much about helping us continue this special tradition at Florida State. While the cardinal principles are something very fresh for undergraduates around the country, they last a lifetime and still resonate strongly with those who come back and support us. The memories I’m making now will drive my desire to preserve and improve this chapter in the future.
We must constantly balance our focus first on offering our undergraduate brothers a memorable and meaningful college experience, and secondly on honoring the six decades of history that came before us here. The year painted on the wall in our house is 1950, not 2011.
What truly solidified the importance of the visit was the reply I received after sending Charley and Tom their photo together in front of our mural of the crest.
“We greatly appreciate your taking the time out of your busy day of classes to meet with two brothers from another era,” wrote Tom. “It was one of the nicest experiences of my life.”
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